Minutes

9    DRAFT AIR QUALITY ANNUAL STATUS REPORT (ASR) 2021 - The Director: Economy and Environment submitted a report seeking approval from Cabinet Members to consult on the Local Air Quality Management Annual Status Report 2021 and publish the final document following consultation.

The council as part of its regulatory duties under Local Air Quality Management, must have carried out a review of air pollution every year. Industrial, domestic and traffic sources must have been compared with legal limits for major pollutants.

The report was sent to DEFRA who provided technical guidance on how to write the report.

In March 2018 following improvements in local air quality, the council revoked the Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) at Low Santon. The Scunthorpe AQMA was also reduced in size. There were now approximately 1700 residential properties located within the AQMA. This was equivalent to 2.4% of residential properties within North Lincolnshire.

Some areas within the Scunthorpe AQMA still experienced elevated concentrations of PM10 or ‘near miss’ exceedance days. These were often influenced by changes in wind speed or direction which may have led to an exceedance and were associated with industrial emissions.     

The council continued to work with the local industry, the Environment Agency and UK Health Security Agency via the Local Industry Forum.

The Air Quality Action Plan for the Scunthorpe AQMA was currently being reviewed in consultation with stakeholders to ensure that the revised actions continued to bring about real improvements to local air quality.

The council were also investing in the air quality monitoring network, with five replacement Beta Attenuation Monitors (BAM’s). Four would measure PM10 and one would measure levels of PM2.5. The new monitors would ensure continued data capture and reliability providing consistent, high quality and reliable data. To provide this assurance, the equipment aligned to the specification of the Automatic Urban Rural Network (AURN) operated by DEFRA. This investment demonstrated the continued commitment to the review and assessment of local air quality.

Resolved – (a) That consultation with the organisations listed in Appendix 1 be approved, and (b) that relevant feedback be incorporated in the report and the final document for publication be produced.